INFINITE CRISIS #2-4 + TIE-INS REVIEW!

[#2]

• Infinite Crisis #2 - "The Survivors" = Spotlight: Power Girl! We've been brewing on this Power Girl origin madness for so freaking long that I can't help but be satisfied at her getting the revelations she deserves. The History of the DCU segment by Ordway and Perez was wonderful, a much-needed streamline of Crisis continuity through the eyes of the Survivors! Buddy Baker joins the Space-League (after his power begin to go wack due to Spectre's war on magic I assume?). Superman decides to stop moping around and take action following the Ruin two-parter from Rucka's AoS. What does fake-Luthor want with the Marvels, and now Black Adam? Why is real-Luthor still having headaches? Did the New Earth cause the decay of Alex Luthor's Paradise Dimension and the decline of E2 Lois' health? Love that we get Donner crystal Kryptonian tech in the new Fort Superman. Booster returns from the future with a new and rebuilt Skeets after departing in tOP #6; why does he need Blue Beetle's scarab? Brother Eye gives us some huge confirmation and expo on how he came to be: Bruce created him after realizing he got mind-wiped, but once Max Lord took control, he implemented the OMAC project via 1.3 million sleeper agents. But what caused Batman to lose control over the satellite? Finally, the survivors reveal their plan to PG: to bring back Earth-2 in place of the current New Earth.
• JSA #81 - "My Heroes" = And Stargirl to bookend the JSA run! What a journey it has been, and only natural to end it all with a piece on the stars and stripes! Even though not much happens, we get sort of a conclusion to Courtney's daddy-issues arc that ties up her dynamic with Pat pretty full circle. A bit of expo and dev on Liberty Belle and Jesse with a cameo by Shade to top it off, presented beautifully by Dale Eaglesham's brilliant pencils.
• Wonder Woman #224 - "Marathon, Part II : "War In Paradise!" = Nothing comes without cost! The cunning of Brother Eye has secured one more victory against the heroes of Earth! Io's endeavor is revealed, her work has turned the purple ray of life into a violet beam of death. The mission is over. What will Brother Eye's final attack be? Are the Amazons & Paradise Island gone forever?

[#3]

• Infinite Crisis #3 - "Divine Intervention" = The gods have their own laws! Atlantis is decimated by the Spectre, as Athena and her pantheon of Goddesses remove Paradise Island from the Earth. Although I enjoyed Rucka's depiction of this sequence in WW #224, I appreciate that Johns thought this was important enough to be in the main title (and seeing it drawn by Jimenez was dope too). Is Aquaman killed in the destruction of Atlantis? Rehab'd Superman returns as Jaime finds the scarab, while we get one page referencing the space stuff to remind us of the "few seconds" foreshadowing. Sidestepping the Firestorm tie-ins was a good idea IMO and I hope we get the answers to the mystery of this elemental Firestorm in the coming issues or the RTW special. Wally check in is much needed (we've barely seen him since Rogue War). The E2 Supes and Batman sequences were great and I love the use of Dick as Bruce's north star to guide him back to sanity, an idea that is integral to Batman's rehabilitation in the midst of this OMAC and Red Hood stuff. The Luthor mystery is revealed; fake-Lex is E3 Alex Luthor who's theta brainwaves have been mucking up real-Lex's head. Though the power armor gets smashed, he escapes with a shard of the paradise dimension via neck shrapnel! Final dual revelation segments were wonderful, as we learn it was Superboy-Prime who destroyed the Watchtower and abducted J'onn to use in a cosmic tuning fork tower built from the corpse of the Anti-Monitor alongside other captured individuals such as Lady Quark, the Ray, and the freshly betrayed Black Adam.  But what is the purpose of this tower? IIRC the Monitor used these in the OG Crisis to merge the remaining Earths back into one; could Alex and Superboy be trying to do the opposite to restore E2?
• Day of Vengeance Special - "The Ninth Age Of Magic" = A sufficient wrap up to the Day of Vengeance death of magic plot line. Shadow-Pact and the magical heroes of the DCU hunt down seven deadly sins in Gotham City, Zatanna reconstructs the Rock of Eternity, and Nabu and Spectre have a final showdown. By killing Fate, Spectre ends the Ninth Age of Magic and begins the Tenth, alerting the Presence to his campaign and relocating himself to a new host. Nightshade gets nabbed by Felix Faust, presumably for the cosmic tuning fork we saw at the end of IC #3. Aquaman is confirmed to be alive (as I pondered in last issue's reflection), and Captain Marvel becomes the new "Wizard" within the Rock. As they send the helm of fate into space to find a new host, a bittersweet victory is all that remains for our heroes. Did they really win after all?
• Batman #648 - All They Do is Watch Us Kill, Part I : "Late Arrivals" = This isn't the end! It's a trick! Black Mask is so stupid for offing his lieutenants that it's kind of funny. At least we get a fantastic brawl illustrated by the brilliant Doug Mahnke. Seeing Sionis in combat was really cool since most stories don't tend to have the mob bosses get their own hands dirty. Choreography and use of set-pieces like Winick and Mahnke do is so great; I especially love it when Mask just breaks a chair over his head after Hood trolled him into cleaning house. Alfred's anecdotes continue to be fun additions, and I enjoyed how we get a frame of Batman over a deactivated OMAC. It really cements this story as a focal point of Infinite Crisis.
• Batman #649 - All They Do is Watch Us Kill, Part II : "Lazarus & Pagliacci" = The cover says Mahnke but it has pencils by Eric Battle! Art is obviously not as good, but Winick's story has such momentum that a switch like this is not going to slow it down. Jason and Joker's back and forth steals the issue and Winick does a phenomenal job of capturing the prime essence of each of them. Very cool and heartbreaking to have Batman witness the destruction of Bludhaven right as he's about to face off against Jason; really puts the emphasis on Infinite Crisis being an outright attack on the Trinity, actively pushing these characters to their breaking points. The trauma here segways nicely into the reborn-prime-ultimate Bat-Bruce that emerges in 52 and Morrison's run.
• Batman #650 - All They Do is Watch Us Kill, Part III : "It Only Hurts When I Laugh" = It ends just like it started: with a bomb, a bat, a clown, and a fallen son. The speeches by Bruce and Jason are more than enough to cement this issue in my top 5 Batman stories ever, though I do wish I lived in that alternate universe where it was illustrated by Mahnke. As for that last page with the multiversal Batmen, I'm sure that's a reflection of the fallout of Alex Luthor's machinations.

• Infinite Crisis #4 - "Homecoming" = Dump dump dump! Bludhaven gets blown up while the Titans get torn apart. Some continuity troubles with Batman finding Dick and claiming he was in New York when it happened even though he was in Gotham fighting the Red Hood when he saw Chemo's point of impact. The iconic fight between Prime and Conner and the Titans/Doom Patrol/JSA is great and made ever better by the Flashes intervening. I'm assuming Bart and the speedsters took Prime into the Speed Force, but Wally and Linda have departed for dimensions unknown. What does Jay mean when he says, "the Speed Force is gone?" Still don't care for the Firestorm stuff in space, but Jason has lost his co-pilot and might merge with this elemental? Also Air-Wave gets offed in one panel and Crispus Allen becomes our new Spectre! Now let's get into the reveals: Alex Luthor explains that he and Superboy-Prime escaped from the Paradise/Heaven Dimension while E2 Superman is distracted by Lois' failing health. They are the impetus behind all four of the Countdown minis: 
• Alex poses as the fake-lex, creating the Secret Society based on vengeance against the super-hero mind-wipes. They collect certain individuals to build a machine, a machine they believe will mind-wipe the entire super-hero community. Only Psycho-Pirate is in on the plan since he remembers the Crisis and the previous multiverse.
• Superboy-Prime finds the Heart of Darkness and Psycho-Pirate gives it to a mentally insane Jean Loring, who ends up convincing the host-less Spectre to wage war on magic.
• Alex wrests control of Brother Eye from Batman, giving it sentience as it falls into the hands of Max Lord, preying on the designs of the OMAC project.
• Superboy-Prime moves planets around space to shift the center of the universe away from Oa to where it was in the E2 universe. This creates the battleground for the Rann-Thanagar War.
• All of these endeavors worked in tandem to build Luthor's machine: a tower based on the Monitor's design of the cosmic tuning fork, but this time built from the remains of the Anti-Monitor's corpse. Using super-powered individuals who hailed from different universes before the crisis, this tower will do the opposite of its function during Crisis; it will divide the New Earth into a Multiverse so Alex Luthor can find the so called "Perfect Earth". The destruction of magic into its raw form will be the fuel, Brother Eye will be the programming, and the new center of the universe will be the playground for Alex to build the new Multiverse.
• Using the tower, Alex Luthor succeeds in bringing back Earth-2 as all the denizens of the former reality are returned.
• Teen Titans #32 - "Doom's Day" = Some nice extended sequences for the brawl against Prime from IC #4 along with an extra side-plot about Gar and the Doom Patrol. The John Byrne DP reboot seems to be undone in favor of embracing the OG Drake/Kupperberg/Morrison/Pollack runs which is an obvious plus. We get hinting in regards to Prime's place in altering continuity via his reality punches which will be explored soon.
• Wonder Woman #225 - "Nothing Finished, Only Abandoned" = THE MISSION NEVER ENDS! Gah damn Rucka is a freaking good writer. If I had to recommend one WW comic to anyone it would be this one. Athena's monologue was as brilliant as you can get with thesis/essay comics on certain characters. Interesting foreshadowing regarding the end of the Old Gods and the coming of the New Gods, I definitely did not expect any kind of hinting towards Final Crisis this early. I love how each of the Trinity has had their rehab issue so far: Diana in this, Superman in #647, and Batman being the last in his partial therapy sessions of #650 and IC #3. One more issue left to go in Rucka's run and I couldn't be more devastated!
• Rann/Thanagar War Special - "Hands of Fate" = And now Jenny! Why do we have to lose darling characters in mid books?! Giving it the benefit of the doubt since I enjoyed the framing around Alex Luthor's hands causing absolute chaos paired with the reveal that Superboy-Prime was actually the one who destabilized Thanagar's orbit back during the Adam Strange: Planet Heist series. The Kyle/Ion stuff is interesting, and it forced me to do a bit of research regarding pre-Johns GL stuff. From what I understand: Kyle became Ion a while ago from taking all the power of GLC, but then gave it up to restore the Guardians of the Universe. Before giving it up however, Kyle used some of the Ion power to restore Jade's star-heart ability, which is why when she is offed in this, he ends up reassuming that personality. Least favorite parts of this were witnessing Jade's corpse get disintegrated by Luthor's cosmic storm, and any panel with Blackfire in it was repulsive to the highest degree.
• Wonder Woman #226 - "Cover Date" = Loved it! If #225 was the finale, then this is the epilogue, a walk through the history of Diana and Clark up to this moment. The only gripe I have is the fact that the Challenge of Artemis storyline happens before Diana's death and return from Underworld Unleashed, whereas this issue has it backwards. I'm a huge continuity freak so what can I say. Really going to miss Rucka on this title, he's truly one of the few who understands Diana fundamentally to her core, and when I say few, I mean very very few. Thanking my past self for picking this and AoS as Countdown and Infinite Crisis adjacent pre-reading because it was so worth it. At the end of the day, I'm not sad because it's ending, I'm happy because it happened.
• Adventures of Superman #648 - "Look... Up In The Sky!" = I mentioned in my last review of A/S #647 that I could tell the difference between Rucka's prose and the fill-in couple's prose, but after this issue I'm pretty torn. This was a really well put together issue and a much-needed breather segment within the constant chaos of Infinite Crisis. I loved using an article by Lois as the framing device, as well as the mentions of the other heroes. I think that these kinds of issues can feel preachy sometimes, but all in all this was really honest in my opinion, and a wonderful way to cap off Rucka's run on Adventures of Superman.
• Teen Titans Annual #1 - "Love & War" = Last Night on Earth! Loved having Superboy focus in this, and the relationship stuff with Cassie is much needed after the events of the Insiders crossover. Lex in his Super Friends garb just reminds me of his appearances in the RCDC specials, but I'm excited to see more of him in this event and what Connor ends up doing with the shard. Very interesting to see the fallout of DOV affecting Raven's abilities and the fact that the Amazons + Greek Pantheon leaving is having similar effects on Wonder Girl as well. The Raven sequence of her empath power picking up residual feelings brings some good foreshadowing for #5, but I'm reading this before since it works better as buildup for #5 than reading after.

HAWKMAN BY GEOFF JOHNS

RETURN OF HAWKMAN

[Hawkman : Endless Flight // Slings & Arrows]

• Hawkman #1 - "First Impressions"
• Hawkman #2 - "Into The Sky"
• Hawkman #3 - "Lost in the Battlelands"
• Hawkman #4 - "Beasts of Burden"
• Hawkman #5 - Slings & Arrows, Part I : "The Birds & The Billionaires"
• Hawkman #6 - Slings & Arrows, Part II : "Eye-Spider"
• Hawkman Secret Files - "Hidden Past, Hidden Future"

[Hawkman : Love & Death]

• Hawkman #7 - "Fine Day For A Hangin'"
• Hawkman #8 - "Small Talk"
• Hawkman #9 - "In The Hands Of Fate"
• Hawkman #10 - "Snowblind"
• Hawkman #11 - "Everlasting Love...?"
• Hawkman #12 - "The Darkraven"

[Hawkman : Killers // The Thanagarian]

• Hawkman #13 - Killers, Part I : "Hunted Hawks"
• Hawkman #14 - Killers, Part II : "Haunted Hawks"
• Hawkman #15 - The Thanagarian, Part I : "Wings Of Fury"
• Hawkman #16 - The Thanagarian, Part II : "Hawk VS Hawk!"
• Hawkman #17 - The Thanagarian, Part III : "In This Life Or The Next"

[Hawkman : The Headhunter]

• Hawkman #18 - "Bloodlines"
• Hawkman #19 - "Hunting for History"
• Hawkman #20 - The Headhunter, Part I : "Pray For Angels"
• Hawkman #21 - The Headhunter, Part II : "Taking Off The Mask"
• Hawkman #22 - The Headhunter, Part III : "Blood & Lies"

[JSA : Black Reign]

• JSA #56 - Black Reign, Part I : "Men Became Gods Overnight"
• Hawkman #23 - Black Reign, Part II : "No Rest In St. Roch"
• JSA #57 - Black Reign, Part III : "The Liberators"
• Hawkman #24 - Black Reign, Part IV : "The Invaders"
• JSA #58 - Black Reign, Part V : "Judgement Comes From Inner Voices"
• Hawkman #25 - Black Reign, Part VI : "Sunrise In Kahndaq"

IDENTITY CRISIS

COUNTDOWN

INFINITE CRISIS

52

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA

BLACKEST NIGHT

BRIGHTEST DAY

JSA BY GEOFF JOHNS READING ORDER

[JSA Presents: Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E.]

• S&S #1 - "New Kid on the Block"
• S&S #2 - "True Colors"
• S&S #3 - "Bloodrush"
• S&S #4 - "Waking the Dead!"
• S&S #5 - "The Subs, Part I"
• S&S #6 - "The Subs, Part II"

[JSA : JSA Reborn] ~ {Co-Written by James Robinson & David S. Goyer}

• JSA - Secret Files & Origins (1999) - "Gathering Storms"
• JSA #1 - "Justice Be Done"
• JSA #2 - "The Wheel Of Life"
• JSA #3 - "Old Souls"
• JSA #4 - "Ouroboros"
• JSA #5 - "Grounded"
• JSA #6 - "Justice Like Lightning"

[Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. : Children's Crusade]

• S&S #7 - "You Kids Today!"
• S&S #8 - "Crisis in Blue Valley"
• S&S #0 - "A Chilly Day in Opal"
• S&S #9 - "The Final Hour for the 7 Soldiers of Victory"
• S&S #10 - "Shortcuts"
• S&S #11 - "Knight Time"
• S&S #12 - "Dragon Food!"
  
• S&S #13 - "The Defiant Ones"
• S&S #14 - "Heirlooms"
• Impulse #61 - "The Sidekick Swap"
• Silver Age: Showcase - "The 7 Soldiers of Victory"

[JSA : Darkness Falls // Hunt For Extant ]

• JSA #7 - Darkness Falls, Part I : "Twilight Rises"
• JSA #8 - Darkness Falls, Part II : "Shadowland"
• JSA #9 - Darkness Falls, Part III : "Black Planet"
• JSA #10 - "Wild Hunt!"
• JSA #11 - "Split"
• JSA #12 - "The Blood-Dimmed Tide"
• JSA #13 - Hunt For Extant, Part I : "Time's Assassin"
• JSA #14 - Hunt For Extant, Part II : "Chaos Theory"
• JSA #15 - Hunt For Extant, Part III : "Crime & Punishment"

[JSA : Injustice Be Done]

• JSA Annual - "Genesis/Sisters"
• Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1 - "Sorrow Ever More!"
• JSA #16 - Injustice Be Done, Part I : "Divide & Conquer"
• JSA #17 - Injustice Be Done, Part II : "Cold Comfort"
• JSA #18 - Injustice Be Done, Part III : "Sorrow's Story"
• JSA #19 - Injustice Be Done, Part IV : "Into The Labyrinth"
• JSA #20 - Injustice Be Done, Part V : "Godspeed"

[JSA : Return of Hawkman]

• JSA #21 - "Guardian Angels"
• JSA #22 - Return of Hawkman, Prelude : "Lost Friends"
• JSA #23 - Return of Hawkman, Part I : "Ascension"
• JSA #24 - Return of Hawkman, Part II : "Icarus Fell"
• JSA #25 - Return of Hawkman, Part III : "Seven Devils"

[JSA : Fair Play]

• JSA Our Worlds At War - "The All-Stars"
• JSA - Secret Files & Origins #2 (2001) - "Breaking Storms"
• JSA #26 - "Who Do You Trust?"
• JSA #27 - "Thunderstruck"
• JSA #28 - Let The Games Begin Part I : "Face-Off"
• JSA #29 - "Kids"
• JSA #30 - Let The Games Begin Part II : "Fair Play"
• JSA #31 - "Making Waves"

[JSA : Stealing Thunder]

• JSA #32 - "Prologue: The Calm Before The Storm"
• JSA #33 - "Wish Fulfillment"
• JSA #34 - "Troublestruck"
• JSA #35 - "Lightning Storm"
• JSA #36 - "Time-Bound"
• JSA #37 - "Crossing Over"
• JSA #38 - "Father's Day"

[JSA : Savage Times]

• JSA #39 - "Power Crush"
• JSA #40 - "...Do No Harm"
• JLA/JSA - Secret Files & Origins - "The Day Before"
• JLA/JSA - Virtue & Vice (One-shot/Graphic Novel)
• JSA #41 - "The Unborn Hour"
• JSA #42 - "Paradox Play"
• JSA #43 - "Yesterday's War"
• JSA #44 - "The Tears of Ra"

[JSA : Princes of Darkness]

• JSA #45 - "Peacemakers"
• JSA #46 - Princes of Darkness, Part I : "Into The Valley"
• JSA #47 - Princes of Darkness, Part II : "Eclipse"
• JSA #48 - Princes of Darkness, Part III : "Enlightenment"
• JSA #49 - Princes of Darkness, Part IV : "Army of Darkness"
• JSA #50 - Princes of Darkness, Part V : "The Last Light"
• JSA #51 - Princes of Darkness, Part VI : "Coda: Justice Eternity"

[JSA : All-Stars]

• JSA All-Stars #1 - "Legacy"
• JSA All-Stars #2 - "Flying High"
• JSA All-Stars #3 - "Challenging Fate"
• JSA All-Stars #4 - "A Star Is Born"
• JSA All-Stars #5 - "An Hour at a Time"
• JSA All-Stars #6 - "Out of the Shadows"
• JSA All-Stars #7 - "Fair Enough"
• JSA All-Stars #8 - "And Justice For All"

[JSA : Tis' The Season]

• JSA #52 - "Brand New Day"
• JSA #53 - "Blinded"
• JSA #54 - "Virtue, Vice, & Pumpkin Pie"
• JSA #55 - "Be Good For Goodness' Sake"

[JSA : Black Reign]

• JSA #56 - Black Reign, Part I : "Men Became Gods Overnight"
• Hawkman #23 - Black Reign, Part II : "No Rest In St. Roch"
• JSA #57 - Black Reign, Part III : "The Liberators"
• Hawkman #24 - Black Reign, Part IV : "The Invaders"
• JSA #58 - Black Reign, Part V : "Judgement Comes From Inner Voices"
• Hawkman #25 - Black Reign, Part VI : "Sunrise In Kahndaq"

[JSA : Lost]

• JSA #59 - "Time & Time & Time Again!"
• JSA #60 - Redemption Lost, Part I : "Anatomy Of A Murder"
• JSA #61 - Redemption Lost, Part II : "Revenants"
• JSA #62 - Redemption Lost, Part III : "Vengeance & Judgement"

[JSA : Smoke & Mirrors]

• JSA #63 - Waking The Sandman, Part I : "Insomnia"
• JSA #64 - Waking The Sandman, Part II : "Night Terrors"
• JSA #65 - Out of Time, Part I : "Dead On Arrival"
• JSA #66 - Out of Time, Part II : "Time To Die!"

IDENTITY CRISIS

• JSA #67 - "The Autopsy"

[JSA : Two of A Kind]

• JSA #68 - JSA/JSA, Part I : "Making History"
• JSA #69 - JSA/JSA, Part II : "Guardian Angels"
• JSA #70 - JSA/JSA, Part III : "High Societies"
• JSA #71 - JSA/JSA, Part IV : "Past Mistakes"
• JSA #72 - JSA/JSA, Part V : "Against The Clock!"

COUNTDOWN

• JSA #73 - Black Vengeance, Part I : "The Verdict"
• JSA #74 - Black Vengeance, Part II : "The People's Heroes"
• JSA #75 - Black Vengeance, Part III : "Sunset Over Kahndaq"
• JSAC #1 - Power Trip, Part I : "Point of Origin"
• JSA #76 - "In Search Of..."
• JSA #77 - "Mixed Signals"
• JSAC #2 - Power Trip, Part II : "Andromeda"
• JSAC #3 - Power Trip, Part III : "Backstory Barrage"
• JSA #78
   - 

  Lost & Found, Part I : "No War In The 5th Dimension"
• JSA #79
   - 

  Lost & Found, Part II : "I Wish..."
• JSA #80
   - Lost & Found, Part III : "See You"

INFINITE CRISIS

• JSAC #4 - Power Trip, Part IV : "Parallel Life"
• JSA #81 - "My Heroes"

52 ~ THE MISSING YEAR

[JSA : The Next Age]

• Justice Society of America #1 - The Next Age, Part I : "All I Have Left Is Justice"
• Justice Society of America #2 - The Next Age, Part II : "Key To The Future"
• Justice Society of America #3 - The Next Age, Part III : "The War For Tomorrow"
• Justice Society of America #4 - The Next Age, Part IV : "Pick Up The Mask"

[JLA/JSA : The Lightning Saga]

• Justice League of America #8 - "Lightning Lad"
• Justice Society of America #5 - "Dreams & Fire"
• Justice League of America #9 - "Suicide"
• Justice Society of America #6 - "Three Worlds"
• Justice League of America #10 - "The Villain is the Hero of his Own Story"

[JSA : Thy Kingdom Come]

• Justice Society of America #7 - "Indestructible"
• Justice Society of America #8 - "Bells & Whistles"
• Justice Society of America #9 - Thy Kingdom Come, Prologue : "Where Am I?"
• Justice Society of America #10 - Thy Kingdom Come, Part I : "What a Wonderful World"
• Justice Society of America #11 - Thy Kingdom Come, Part II : "The Second Coming"
• Justice Society of America #12 - Thy Kingdom Come, Part III : "New Recruits"
• Justice Society of America #13 - Thy Kingdom Come, Part IV : "Supermen"
• Justice Society of America #14 - Thy Kingdom Come, Part V : "Gog"
• Justice Society of America #15 - Thy Kingdom Come, Part VI : "The Good Fight"

[JSA : One World, Under Gog]

• Justice Society of America #16 - "He Came, And Salvation With Him"
• Justice Society of America #17 - "Wish Fulfillment"
• Justice Society of America Annual #1 - "Earth-2"
• Justice Society of America #18 - "War Lords"
• Justice Society of America #19 - "Out of Place"
• Justice Society of America #20 - "Earthbound"
• JSA Kingdom Come Special: Superman #1 - "Please Forgive Me"
• JSA Kingdom Come Special: Magog #1 - "The Real Me"
• JSA Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom #1 - "Gifts of Gog"
• Justice Society of America #21 - "Saints & Sinners"
• Justice Society of America #22 - "Thy Will Be Done"

FINAL CRISIS

[JSA : Between A Rock & A Hard Place]

• Justice Society of America #23 - "The Power of Shazam!"
• Justice Society of America #24 - "Family Ties"
• Justice Society of America #25 - "Family Feuds"
• Justice Society of America #26 - "Black Adam Ruined My Birthday!"

BLACKEST NIGHT

BRIGHTEST DAY

[DC Universe Rebirth #1] - "The Clock Is Ticking Across the DC Universe!"

[Batman/Flash: The Button]

• Batman #21 - "One Minute"
• The Flash #21 - "Rainy Day"
• Batman #22 - "We Rise"
• The Flash #22 - "Lightning Rod"

[Doomsday Clock]

• DC #1 - "That Annihilated Place"
• DC #2 - "Places We Have Never Known"
• DC #3 - "Not Victory Nor Defeat"
• DC #4 - "Walk on Water"
• DC #5 - "There is No God"
• DC #6 - "Truly Laugh"
• DC #7 - "Blind Spot"
• DC #8 - "Save Humanity"
• DC #9 - "Crisis"
• DC #10 - "Action"
• DC #11 - "A Lifelong Mistake"
• DC #12 - "Discouraged of Man"

[Stargirl Spring Break Special] - "The Seven Soldiers of Spring Break"

[Flashpoint Beyond]

• FB #0 - The Clockwork Killer, Prelude : "Everything Matters"
• FB #1 - The Clockwork Killer, Part I : "Regicide"
• FB #2 - The Clockwork Killer, Part II : "Gilda the Good Witch"
• FB #3 - The Clockwork Killer, Part III : "The Secret of The Super-Man"
• FB #4 - The Clockwork Killer, Part IV : "The Other Side of the Wall"
• FB #5 - The Clockwork Killer, Part V : "The Joke's On Me"
• FB #6 - The Clockwork Killer, Part VI : "The 13 Club"

[The New Golden Age #1] - "I Saw Tomorrow"

[Stargirl : The Lost Children]

• #1 - "Lighting the Fuse"
• #2 - "More Fun"
• #3 - "The Childminder"
  
• #4 - "Losing Track of Time"
• #5 - "Man & Woman of the Hour"
• #6 - "Young Justice Society"

[JSA: The New Golden Age]

• #1 - "Legends Die Together, Too"
• #2 - "New Friends, Old Enemies"
• #3 - "Wartime"
• #4 - "Fates & Fortunes"
• #5 - "Past & Present"

[JSA: Young Justice Society]

• #6 - "A New Dawn"
• #7 - "Enemies & Friends"
• #8 - "Black Light"
• #9 - "Recruitment Drive"
• #10 - "The Gentleman's Game"
• #11 - "Into The Future"
• #12 - "Curveballs"

COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART TWELVE]

 

[ACT XII - Time Runs Out]

• Day of Vengeance #5 - "The Particle Theory Of Darkness" = Murphy's Law! Regardless of Willingham's dialogue idiosyncrasies, this one read better than its predecessors. Nightshade's narration was fun enough, and I enjoyed her interactions with Black Alice. Shadowpact's gimmick/curse is their cross to bear, a Sisyphean war they simply cannot win. All they can hope to do is get back up and keep fighting. 
• JSA #78 - Lost & Found, Part I : "No War In The 5th Dimension" = Famed inker Keith Champagne takes over for Johns on writing duties for this three-issue arc wrapping up some loose ends before Day of Vengeance's finale. The ideas are there, what with the 5th Dimensional War and the escape of Mordru, but maybe the prose and pacing are a little lacking. Wizard getting baited and clapped up by Mordru has barely any stakes, but I'm interested to see why Jakeem has become a 5-D Dictator. Where are Hector and Lyta? 
• JSA #79 - Lost & Found, Part II : "I Wish..." = Not sure why every location heading says our characters are in the Sixth Dimension? Typo, or just something Keith failed to convey plotwise, beats me. Still no answers on Hector & Lyta, Jakeem gets bizaaroed in Thunderbolt's flashback, and Mordru boxes with the remaining JSAers in the Tower of Fate. Excited to finish this arc so we can move onto IC.
• JSA #80 - Lost & Found, Part III : "See You" = Mid-twist out of left field but it's justified because of coming full circle with the Moz JLA arc Crisis Times Three I guess. Hector and Lyta are revealed to be trapped in some kind of frozen hell, and only given release by their son Daniel, the current incarnation of Dream. Fate battles Mordru through dimensions, apparently displacing the Kingdom Come Superman (while also getting a glimpse at the death of the Joker during JLA: The Nail). The heroes return from dimension five to banish Mordru and segway into the Crisis. Great concepts in this arc overall, but mundane writing and strange pacing dulled it down for me.
• Day of Vengeance #6 - "The Death Of Magic" = Abandon hope all ye who enter here, for this is the hour of the Spectre! False faith in the Wizard's victory ends in only visions of oblivion; the fountain of magic, of eternity, rendered asunder by the spirit of vengeance in viridian. Jean Loring, emissary of the eclipse, is sent to a purgatory around the Sun's orbit. Even with backs against the wall and a world at the mercy of seven deadly sins, Shadowpact gets up once more to save our souls!

INFINITE CRISIS BEGINS NOW...

COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART ELEVEN]

 

[ACT XI - Reactionary]

• Adventures of Superman #644 - "Blame & Remorse" = This was great! Unfortunate that Rucka didn't do the scripting duties, but the pair that filled in for him ended up doing a good job regardless. The revamp of Toyman reminded me a lot of Fun-Land from that one issue of Gaiman's Sandman with the serial killer convention. The focus on Zatanna's guilt from the various mind-wipes paired with her having to carry the weight after the end of COC is definitely needed and handled very well. I enjoyed how Superman tries to lighten the load by forgiving her even if she can't forgive herself.
• JSA #77 - "Mixed Signals" = Man, I am not a fan of Jim Fern's pencils. This was okay, a fine little bridge between Return of Donna Troy and the earth-bound recruitment of heroes for the war at the center of the universe. Air-Wave is a fun enough character and I'm glad he's used as a vessel to prop up a team-up between Hal and Alan (which has been much needed since GL Rebirth). Excited to see who ends up stowing away on this cosmic JL squad as we see more players getting moved around before the Crisis begins. As for that final page, where in the world are Fury and Fate?
• JSAC #2 - Power Trip, Part II : "Andromeda" = The confusion continues! I think it's hilarious and brilliant how Geoff is able to come up with a disposable backstory that is totally believable for Power Girl (then again, anything is better than the "Arion connection" at this point). The explanation for the cleavage hole could have been comical but Johns handled it really well, and you can definitely sympathize with PG after all the crap and mind-trash she's had to deal with. I originally thought the ring they find in the opening sequence to be a Legion flight ring, but if the Legion origin is just a hoax portrayed by the Psycho Pirate, then what could it be?
• JSAC #3 - Power Trip, Part III : "Backstory Barrage" = It's not enough that I mentioned the plausibility of PG's proposed origin last issue, but now we get mowed down with various escape-hatch backstories to answer the mystery of Power Girl. The Titans of Tomorrow one has to be my favorite because it brings more relevance to that seemingly abandoned and irrelevant plotline (besides the obvious Connor-Lex hinting). Psycho Pirate goes off in this, and we see he's just another pawn maneuvered in Fake-Lex's agenda for the Crisis.
• Adventures of Superman #645 - "Breaking Point" = Point of impact! Cornered by OMACs, Luthor's machinations, and the endless enigma that is Ruin, the Man of Tomorrow must go headfirst into the shadow as the sun sets forever! Luthor is working with someone within the Society while suffering from debilitating migraines. We get an answer to the sniper mystery plaguing this series from the first arc, but it's an anticlimactic reveal as Max Lord and Checkmate did it as part of their agenda against Superman. Lupe hunts Ruin with help from Hamilton, whiles Supes brawls with Lex and Ruin as he discovers Ruin's use of the Phantom Zone for teleportation. We cap everything off with a distress call from the Watchtower, and Superman discovering the aftermath of Crisis Without Conscience. Crisis, begins here, but first we must deal with the death of magic...

COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART FIVE]

 

[ACT V - The Purge]

• Day of Vengeance #2 - "Some Enchantress Evening" = We finally get the flashback revealing how Spectre was tricked by Eclipso, though Willingham comes up with some excuse for Spectre's susceptibility via amnesia mumbo jumbo since he's untethered to a host. We also see how Stranger got mouse'd as well as what happened to Hector and Lyta in the pages of Black Vengeance. I enjoyed the flashbacks and expo-dumps, but this issue was mostly banter and character devs to grow the reader's interest in the team which I get, but I want to see some magical chaos! The highlight was probably the Ragman/Enchantress sequence where she explains the monkey's paw to her powers, even if the awkward kiss killed the vibe.
• Day of Vengeance #3 - "A Hot Night In Budapest" = 
  Enjoyed the Blue Devil spotlight! No Justiniano on pencils, but Wagner still did a good job. Painful to see false hope for the magic users as Marvel gets the upper hand since we know it's not going to be that easy going into Infinite Crisis. Last issue they set up the Enchantress dilemma and I have a feeling that's what's going to bite them when they need it the most. Who is this Lori that Detective Chimp and Nightshade are trying to find?
• Day of Vengeance #4 - "Monkey Business" = 
  Underwhelming! Intro to Black Alice was fine enough, but unfortunate that the entire plan was neutered by Enchantress having DID issues. At least the art was good, but it's a shame that my interest has significantly decreased since the first issue.
• JSAC #1 - Power Trip, Part I : "Point of Origin" = Finally! The mystery we've been waiting for begins to unfold! We get a flashback showing us that Power Girl did in fact escape a dying Krypton only to end up on Earth with no memory of her point of origin. With no weakness to kryptonite and the Arion connection being debunked, what is the true genesis of the platinum blonde powerhouse? Who sent the vision of Garn Daanuth after Power Girl? Is it the same individual who spawns these three Legionnaires on the final page?
• JSA #76 - "In Search Of..." = Aftermath! One of the main things I have a problem with since the OMACs started popping up in tie-in issues is that they seem pretty unbeatable. If Superman, Batman, or the JSA heavy hitters can't take one single OMAC out how the heck is the entire superhero community supposed to beat an army of them? I enjoyed the angle they tackled with Mister Terrific's tech invisibility, great set up for how valuable he will be in stopping Brother Eye. Fun snippets with the JLI remnants recruiting Power Girl as well as some flirting between her and my boy Pieter Cross! Happy that Al comes full circle but now worried about the absolute problem that is Amanda Waller. What is the rumor Calculator mentions? Could it be about the mindwipe of Batman? How will Nabu help Rick?

COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART ONE]

 

[ACT I - Things Fall Apart]

• Countdown To Infinite Crisis - "The Life & Death of Ted Kord" = This might be one of the finest single issues I've ever read, and the fact that it's a prelude to an event comic is pretty goddamn unbelievable. Geoff, Judd, and Greg crafted something truly beautiful and heartbreaking, all centered around the pride and joy of c-list comics characters: Blue Beetle. In the span of 5 sub chapters, we fall in love with Ted Kord as we watch him looked down upon and rejected by his peers, his life crumbling before his eyes. But it's this bug that sets off the powder keg, the domino train that gives the heroes of the DCU an edge against enemies closing in at all sides. Rags, Benes, Saiz, and Jimenez are at their A-Game in this, every page is immaculate. God this is so good. As for the loose ends: If Batman created Brother Mark I, then how did Checkmate + Max Lord gain control? What happened to Skeets? What is this OMAC Project? I would be confused about the kryptonite, but Winick just dealt with that in the Under The Hood arc. Did Max and Checkmate siphon funds from Kord Industries and blow up the Bug? Did he hire the Madmen to plant the tracker on Blue Beetle? Or was that Lex and the Society? Why did Luthor appear in the scarab's hologram? Who was talking to the Wizard Shazam? Many questions that I hope are answered, but for now let the Countdown begin!
• The OMAC Project #1 - "The Eye In The Sky" = 
  Greg Rucka is the man! Love the new cast, love the spy thriller vibe, and I love Sasha Bordeaux! For some strange reason I thought the kid with the red and yellow shirt who smack talked Booster was Billy Batson, but I don't think Billy's Fawcett design had that yellow stripe on the center of the shirt. Did not expect to love Jesus Saiz's art as much as I did, and Rucka's prose is so unique from what I'm used to in AoS and WW. Heartbreaking to see the aftermath of the Countdown special, but it only gets more heartbreaking from here! Is Ted's data inside the parcel sent by Sasha? Or is it his goggles?
• Superman #217 - "The Journey" = If the extent of these OMAC tie ins is that one centurion shows up, then you have lost my interest completely. I have zero cares to give about Verheiden trying to clean up Azzarello's lame "For Tomorrow" crap.
• Day of Vengeance #1 - "One Last Drink At the End Of Time" = So begins the Death of Magic! Unfortunate that such a huge event is reduced to only being 25% of the whole Countdown storyline instead of having its own spotlight and resulting status quo, but it functions well as a prime mover for this wonderful journey so I can't be mad at all given what we have down the road. Bill Willingham has some great prose, but it's no doubt bogged down by plot sluggishness paired with some of his comedic idiosyncrasies. Justiniano's art is awesome and does a great job at elevating the script. Why has Spectre declared death to magic? We just saw him separate from Hal Jordan during Green Lantern: Rebirth, could his lack of a host body leave him susceptible to seduction? What did the Heart of Darkness tell Jean Loring? How did the Spectre turn Phantom Stranger into a mouse?
• JSA #73 - Black Vengeance, Part I : "The Verdict" = Crimson Avenger returns! Loved tying in Day of Vengeance to the JSA series. We finally get an answer to who Shazam was talking to during the Countdown special, none other than Mordru! Last time we saw him was when Fate imprisoned him within the Rock of Eternity during JSA #51; will he make a return before Infinite Crisis? How did Eclipso manage to trick the Spectre? Did both of them attack Kahndaq? Will Billy fumble Courtney? And what was the verdict on Atom-Smasher's membership!?!
• JSA #74 - Black Vengeance, Part II : "The People's Heroes" = The wrath of God falls on Kahndaq! We get a nice expo dump to frame Day of Vengeance better, with Captain Marvel explaining that the hostless Spectre is vulnerable to Eclipso's manipulation, hence the magical genocide that has ensued. I personally would consider this essential reading for that event (and it's just damn good comics!). We get more retcons for Jean Loring through Carter's dialogue, character revitalization or assassination, that's for you to decide. Are Hector and Lyta trapped within the Helm of Fate? Did Spectre deflect the Thunderbolt's spell and instead send Jakeem and Johnny to the 5th Dimension? Does Power Girl truly have Kryptonian heritage?
• JSA #75 - Black Vengeance, Part III : "Sunset Over Kahndaq" = Holy mess that was beautiful. A wonderful piece on Atom-Smasher, and I'm so happy Johns got all three main artists across this run to come and do an awesome retrospective. I love Kramer and Kirk, but Sadowski was on god-mode during his sequence. His depictions of Black Adam go up there with Gary Frank and Jerry Ordway. Spectre and Eclipso get away of course, but who is Eclipso referring to when she says "Then he'll let me rest"? Is it Jean talking about Eclipso, or is it Eclipso talking about some other unknown power?

JSA #68-72 Review

Come one, come all to the Countdown before Countdown! We are post Identity Crisis, the powder keg paving the way for the event to end all events. I will stand here and say that this era of the DCU might be the most unified and exciting it has ever been (though a close second would have to be 2016-2017 Rebirth era). I would even dare call Countdown itself an event with how much impact it has line wide. With Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, and Judd Winick at the helm maneuvering all the power players into the places they need to be, there's not much that can go wrong!

[JSA Vol 11 - Two of A Kind]

• JSA #68 - JSA/JSA, Part I : "Making History" = Great opener; brutal action, time shenanigans, and just the right amount of exposition to have me hooked on the premise. The Red Morgue sequence did a great job of catching me off guard, and Kramer executed that perfectly. Love pitting Rip against Degaton, who seems pretty damn unbeatable now with some crazy infrastructure backing him up. I think it's hilarious how some of the JSA members at the McCarthy hearing don't even wear masks, and the senator sounded dumb as mess after that request. I wonder what Degaton's plan is to discredit the Society, as well as who is watching Courtney in those final panels. The plot of convincing the old JSA members reminds me a bit of the All-Stars mini, with spotlights on each character. Why is the Thunderbolt missing?
• JSA #69 - JSA/JSA, Part II : "Guardian Angels" = A star flew over the cuckoo's nest! Some fascinating set-up, but I can tell this is Johns going ham on his chance to write the classic JSA. Some fun tid-bits here and there, especially Terry Sloane receiving a telegram from some version of Roulette? But wasn't Roulette his grand-daughter or something? I loved the Johnny/Jakeem stuff, and the Sand + Pieter sequences as well, but Courtney getting straitjacketed and thrown in a padded cell right after having to watch her family die is rough to say the least. Who is Al Pratt associated with?
• JSA #70 - JSA/JSA, Part III : "High Societies" = Jesus Christ that last page caught me off guard! Major step up from the last issue, the crock-pot is churning and I'm ready for the boom! The Terry Sloane scenes were wild; the Roulette we see in the present day is actually his Grand-Niece? Jakeem and Johnny engage in fisticuffs with a group of jocks, Pieter and Charles enjoy a fireside chat, and Al finds more in common with his predecessor than he expected. Who is the redhead who saved Courtney? What is this "Secret Society's" proposition to Black Adam? What happened to the Thunderbolt? What is Degaton's true plan? And finally, RIP Walker Gabriel!
• JSA #71 - JSA/JSA, Part IV : "Past Mistakes" = Societies converge! The rush of serotonin I got from turning the page and seeing both JSAs in the Brownstone was immense. Huge reflections of Per Degaton as Johns' proto-Eobard Thawne as he gives Hourman his own "It was me Barry!" scene. Love that Rick has some way of attacking him via fortification from the Hourman Android. The Terry + Michael and Ted + Court scenes were wonderful, and we finally got October 30th plan: JSA vs Manchurian Candidate!
• JSA #72 - JSA/JSA, Part V : "Against The Clock!" = Enjoyable enough, but I have to admit that I was expecting a little bit more from Degaton's plan. I can't really complain since as I write this Johns is writing a JSA vs Per Degaton story, but I would probably be ticked if I read this back in 2005. Art by Kramer has been awesome the fight was great, and the reveal of Patricia Duggan being the future Starwoman was absolutely wonderful. What did Karen see when they went through the time storm? What was the knot in 1985? 

Identity Crisis + Flash: The Secret of Barry Allen Review

[Identity Crisis] ~ {Written by Brad Meltzer}

• Identity Crisis #1 - "Coffin" = And away we go! Coming back to this after so many years was a breath of fresh air. For all the haters this book has, Meltzer and Morales show them up completely with sleek and yet classic art paired with powerful prose. Meltzer does an incredible job of sucking you in; while many dig on the retcons, Meltzer finds a way to stay true to the personalities of these characters, it all feels real. I can't recall a death in the DC universe being this meaningful since Supergirl and Flash during the Crisis, or even the Man of Tomorrow himself. The use of minor characters by Meltzer is excellent as well; Bolt and Calculator on the phone makes the universe seem so big, a commodity that just doesn't seem to exist in today's DC landscape. The foreshadowing is wonderful as well, and I do believe the murder-mystery to be one of the strongest aspects of this story.
• The Flash #213 - "Slow Motion" = So that's why Mirror Master's nose was bleeding! This issue suffered from the same problem I have with most Flash books; any villains besides the classic Rogues and Reverse Flashes are absolute trash. You can try to spin the Turtle to be a foil of Flash as much as you want, but at the end of the day he's still a stupid and boring character. The reveal that Ashley Zolomon didn't die in the crash came as a surprise to me, but the fact that Hunter somehow got out is even more interesting. Howard Porter's art wasn't that great in this, I'm hoping it gets better in time for Rogue War. The Identity Crisis mentions were fun, my only peeve was the discrepancy between how Boomerang looks in this compared to the actual IC book.
• Identity Crisis #2 - "House of Lies" = This is a tough book! As much as I understand the criticisms, everything else is so good! The c-listers and their underworld, the satellite league justifying themselves to the Wally and Kyle, and my boy Pieter Cross gets a sequence! Compared to any Millar or Ennis indulgent edginess, the rape scene done in this book was done as tastefully as one of these scenes can be done. The framing of the Leaguers mentalities at the moment of the mind-wipe makes sense, and I enjoyed the mention of Barry's decision being influenced by the death of Iris West. Merlyn dishing out crap on each of the villains is so much fun, and I'm excited for more of these snippets across the rest of the book.
• Identity Crisis #3 - "Serial Killer" = Super-Brawl! I for one love this fight; a perfect fusion proving and disproving the famous adage, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy...". Ollie breaking Slade's concentration is such a great way to take out the one-eyed assassin, and the quarrel that ensues is hilarious. Meltzer's internal monologue for Ollie is fantastic, and definitely makes me want to check out his Green Arrow run. The manner in which Light's memories are reactivated is wonderful, and I sure as mess spotted the foreshadowing in the flashback discrepancy. Ollie explaining to Wally the justifications for the mind-wipes may create a sense of grimdark infecting the bronze age, poisoned nostalgia, but this stuff makes sense! The clean-up works in the League's continuity! Ollie's line regarding him and Carter's differences is great, that is easily one of my favorite rivalries/friendships in all of comics. The Tim Drake sequence is easily the least interesting, but the set-up makes sense given what happens later in the series. Framing the ending with Jimmy cutting to Jean being "attacked" works flawlessly, and Rags executes every panel with grace and precision.
• Identity Crisis #4 - "Who Benefits?" = Gah damn, it just gets better and better! While the red herrings increase by the page, what gives this book life is how the DC universe responds to the mystery. The sequences with the villains, Batman's increased paranoia, the Slipknot scene, and even Spectre Hal coming down to increase the stakes. We can definitely say that Ollie is secured as our viewpoint character going forward, and I am not complaining whatsoever: he's the perfect fit for the tone of this story. The villain scenes are still my favorites, Meltzer has turned Merlyn and Calculator into some of my favorites.
• The Flash #214 - The Secret of Barry Allen, Part I : "Dear Wally..." = Fantastic issue! Johns was able to balance the run's current plot points alongside the fallout from IC extremely well. Wally's built-up despair has snowballed since Blitz and Ignition, and it spilling into this arc sets us up for some fascinating character exploration alongside this mystery surrounding Barry's letter. I enjoyed the reveal of the League's meeting with Wally from #209, connecting the mind-wipe themes. Once again, Ollie stole this issue and is continuing to steal this whole event with his witty dialogue and engaging pathos as a result of him and the League's sins being found out.
• Identity Crisis #5 - "Father's Day" = Dang! This book is a blast to read, mainly because I can agree with the criticisms while still getting everything I want out of it. You can definitely see the editorial mandates starting to seep into the narrative: Firestorm's random death, Jack Drake pruned to get Tim Drake into the orphan club and give him some pathos. The Boomerang death sticks for me, mainly because I'm eager to learn more about Owen Mercer. That whole sequence was very well put together in my opinion, and even though the image of an obese and disheveled Captain Boomerang busting into the Drake home is pretty jarring, Meltzer and Morales find a way to keep me engaged through every single panel.
• The Flash #215 - The Secret of Barry Allen, Part II : "Reformed" = Wow, I guess I was expecting something completely different. Let's get this over with; I don't care about the Top or whatever happened to his mind as a result of Zee's magic. The hilariously dumb and convoluted silver age lore dump on Roscoe Dillon brought some chuckles, but Barry's plan and execution was absolutely trash. I'm glad they're following up on the Top's scene from #210, but if we could just get to the Rogue War stuff already! The Wally pathos is still great, and the IC snippets were the standouts; let's see Zatanna try to put this rabbit back in the hat!
• JSA #67 - "The Autopsy" = Just wow. This might have been one of the best issues of JSA ever. Dave Gibbons killed this entire issue, though I shouldn't be surprised since he drew the greatest comic book ever. This whole book was a perfect storm: great art, great writing, tie in to a great event, and centered on the best member of the JSA: my boy Pieter Cross. The pacing and splicing of the check-ins with each JSA member were fantastic, but that Wildcat Mirror Master sequence had to be the best. The Power Girl stuff had me a bit confused until I remembered that at the end of the Loeb Supergirl S/B arc they kept Kara in hiding to prevent Darkseid's forces from coming back to kill her. Terrific and Mid-Nite cement their bro-bond (if they haven't already) in this, and I loved Michael going to confront his wife's accidental killer in the midst of all this IC chaos.
• Identity Crisis #6 - "Husbands & Wives" = Aftermath! The sequence with the lost family members of the JLA was fascinating: so much history in each member, a wonderful fusion of Bronze Age and Post-Crisis elements to give each character weight like we've been alongside their struggles and losses for years. There's something about Doctor Light remembering the rape that is extremely unnerving, I'm eager to see how this plays out in the upcoming Teen Titans arc. If I'm not mistaken, this whole event is what spawns the Green Arrow/Deathstroke rivalry that gets folded into the zeitgeist (Arrow) which I think is really cool. Now about that final sequence... GAH DAMN! Meltzer does an insane job of building that tension, and the biggest red herrings of all red herrings is planted, a twist to trick before the twist of the final issue!
• The Flash #216 - The Secret of Barry Allen, Part III : "Spinning" = I'm not sure if it's a result of the heavy hand of editorial, but why do comics require the invasive recap in the first couple of pages? It's kind of hard to get to the plot when there's a giant info dump shouting in your face. As for the twist, I get what Johns is going for, and I will admit that I am intrigued. The idea that this d-list villain used his powers to trick the Flash Rogues Gallery into reforming while maintaining the ability to turn it off at any moment is kinda cool. The classic Rogues may not get personal, but Johns has created the circumstances for Wally's villains (Top, Zoom, Grodd) to get pretty damn personal. It's a lot easier to see now that the Top will in fact be a major player in the Rogue War, given the scene with James Jesse's Rogues framing them as the future victims of the Top. The lovely red herring during the final sequence had me genuinely happy; someone needs a win right now!
• Identity Crisis #7 - "The Hero's Life" = What is most impressive about this final twist is that the set up for Atom being the murder has some perverted sense to it. Atom wanted his wife back, so he engineered this entire crisis to make way for her back into his arms. He leaves the JLA during #214 of the Flash to go set up that attempted murder of Jean Loring, he hires Boomerang, he sends the letter to Lois and the gun to Jack Drake. But it's not him, Ray is a Silver Age darling, nothing could justify him breaking bad, he's untouchable, it couldn't be him... but it could be his wife! Man, this one hurts, but it's supposed to I guess. Like the Arthur Miller quote included in this, Identity Crisis is the death of the Silver Age. It's a tone setter, a prelude for the end of the Post Crisis universe, an appetizer for the comics Dark Age of the 2010's. It hurts, but this book is so damn good that I just might have to keep on chewing. One of the saddest parts is that we won't be seeing Ray Palmer until that horrendous Countdown book (which I may or may not force myself to read in the far future). As for the mind-wipe ramifications, this is exactly what leads into Countdown to Infinite Crisis and the OMAC Project; that final scene with Bruce staring down Wally was perfect, the framing of Wally and the lasso of truth, and I like to think that in that moment he knows.
• The Flash #217 - "Post-Crisis" = WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT LAST PAGE? Jesus Christ, that actually made me audibly gasp. I really enjoyed this issue, great segmentation of Wally/Linda + Digger's funeral + Batman confrontation. The Hunter/Cheetah stuff was fun as well, and it seems like it's setting up the upcoming two part crossover. I do wonder what Bats said to Dick when he joined the Titans, but I was expecting some kind of mention of the mind-wipe stuff to follow up the Identity Crisis threads a little more. Then again, I don't think Bats would go to his face; he's definitely more likely to take other measures...
• The Flash #218 - "Rogue Profile: Heat Wave" = That was fire! I can tell it's hit or miss with these Rogue centered issues based how much I care, but when you get Johns and THE Peter Snejbjerg to do a book on Heat-Wave, you best know I'm going to read the mess out of it. It was so easy to get sucked into Mick's narration, and I love how Johns is able to set him and his motivations apart from the others. I get that the whole gallery has distinct personalities, but you can really tell when Johns hits the mark. The re-framed rivalry between Heat-Wave and Cold sets up an exciting conflict for the upcoming Rogue War, and I'm very interested to see how this and the other threads play out.

JSA/Hawkman Black Reign + JSA #59-66 Review

 [JSA : Black Reign]

• JSA #56 - Black Reign, Part I : "Men Became Gods Overnight" = THIS JUST GOT REAL! Loved this first chapter even though most of it was Black Adam giving expo on the members of his task force and stuff we already knew. The focus on Al and the "true" justice of murder and vengeance is fascinating, and brings forth a significant amount of thought and discussion to the entire "do superheroes kill" debate. It's going to be argued to death for the end of time, and Johns has already spent a huge amount of his run dealing with that theme, but man does it bring some good stories! Let's see how the JSA (and especially my boy Carter) respond to the liberation of Kahndaq.
• Hawkman #23 - Black Reign, Part II : "No Rest In St. Roch" = The JSA takes St. Roch! Power Girl hinting, Pieter giving out doctor's notes, Rick getting over his genetics, and Carter severely maiming a D-List villain; what's not to enjoy! I loved Jay's expression as he noticed Courtney and Billy, while Ted recounting the glory days is always hilarious. I wonder what Nabu said to Hector? You can definitely tell this is moving at a breakneck pace, and Carter taking over is great but also pretty alarming. Onto the next one!
• JSA #57 - Black Reign, Part III : "The Liberators" = From bad to worse! Civil war in the JSA! The handling of the no kill stuff is actually really interesting, and the entire scene inside the meeting room before they invade Kahndaq was fantastic. You can tell everyone cares about each other, and they hold their code to the highest standard. Who or what is plaguing Al's mind? What is Brainwave Jr's true purpose? What is Carter's job for Pieter? The dichotomy they're creating between Adam's faction and the JSA is interesting, and the lines drawn with conflicting perspectives brings some compelling pathos. The Nabu sequence was great as well, with Nabu, Carter, and Adam all relics of a bygone era; each with possibly antiquated moralities in relation to today's world.
• Hawkman #24 - Black Reign, Part IV : "The Invaders" = YOOOOOOO! Rex Tyler is freaking back! This was a great chapter, and now that we're past the halfway point, the endgame's design starts to come together. Is the voice in Al's head Ray Palmer? After the T-Sphere scene I'm definitely starting to think it's him. Nabu hijacks Hector, Courtney's staff gets sliced, Al stomps on everyone, and Billy gets smacked to oblivion. What is the secret within Carter's mind? Is it just the fallout from the fight with Headhunter that has him messed up? The final gambit Rick makes is crazy: time runs out!
• JSA #58 - Black Reign, Part V : "Judgement Comes From Inner Voices" = Holy mess! The Venusian Worm is back! Easily the best reveal of this storyline so far. This issue was a standout, WTF comics all day - every day! Love that Hector uses the Fate pantheon against Nabu, and the struggle between Jay and Carter was compelling as mess. What sets apart the JSA from other super-teams is that they are veterans of the war to end all wars, they've seen combat and the horrors, which is why Jay and Carter's argument maintains so much weight. The deaths of Nemesis and Eclipso caught me off guard; god's wrath plays the long game and Alex was stupid to think he could truly master the Black Diamond. The Billy/Adam sequence was fantastic as expected, and I love the taunting Adam does to cement his purpose and place in this world. I'm happy I got the Ray Palmer reveal but Mister Mind coming back was something I had no way of expecting. Is that Brainwave's true purpose: to be used as a vessel for Mister Mind? Did Mister Mind cure him of his troubles like Adam mentioned in the earlier chapters? 
• Hawkman #25 - Black Reign, Part VI : "Sunrise in Kahndaq" = What a crossover! Very interesting how everything ended up going down, I could definitely feel this was analogous to the then-current wars in the middle east. Sometimes America (and in this case the JSA) can't and shouldn't be the world police, and sometimes westerners have no business trying to force their vision of prosperity onto a culture that they have no understanding of. So the JSA does the right thing: there's been too much bloodshed, it's time to pull out. When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, the only outcome is for one of them to surrender. I do think it's the right move for Carter to leave the Society, and I hope he gets his stuff together. Very sad to come to the end of Johns' time on this title, though I can confidently say this goes up there as one of the best explorations of the character I've ever encountered.

[JSA : Lost]

• JSA #59 - "Time & Time & Time Again!" = Well dang! This was a wonderful issue, and I am really hoping it isn't a one off on Degaton's character. The non linear storytelling was a lot of fun to piece together, and the character interactions were super interesting. Sean Phillips art is great as usual, and the new dynamic post Black Reign is something I'm very eager to see play out in the following issues. How will Jay Garrick die? What will happen to Rick? Was it Daniel Hall who talked to Degaton through the mirror?
• JSA #60 - Redemption Lost, Part I : "Anatomy Of A Murder" = Terrific spotlight! Having Mandrake do the pencils for the flashback sequence was awesome, and I love the recontextualization of Spirit King/Sloane/Spectre dynamic that sets up this arc. Terrific and Mid-nite having back and forth is exactly what I want to see from this series. The debate is intriguing as well; Johns tackling some of these themes is so refreshing considering how bland his work throughout the 2010's is. The continuation of the Rex Tyler/Hourman stuff is great as well, and the pathos associated with this generational legacy brings you into the headspace of Rex, desperate and broken, distracting himself from his missing son with a d-list clean-up overload.
• JSA #61 - Redemption Lost, Part II : "Revenants" = Loving this! Kramer is killing it with his pencils, but Mandrake's renditions of the JLA/JSA crossover with the death of Terry Sloane had to be the highlight of the issue for me. The angle Johns has tackled with regards to the Spectre and Hal is very dynamic. No part of this arc has been dull so far, and it's break-neck action paired with quiet character moments are making this arc stand out as one of the best Johns has done for JSA. The real question is how Terrific can still be an atheist when God and the Devil have made their presences known through battles against superheroes over and over again. Denial is a heck of a drug?
• JSA #62 - Redemption Lost, Part III : "Vengeance & Judgement" = Johns has once again unveiled his grand design! This whole thing was merely a prelude setting things up for GL Rebirth!. The various pathos presented between the members of the JSA were so fun to witness: Jay is especially one character who's had some great moments throughout this entire run (Injustice Be Done, Black Reign), and the collusion with Spirit King brought forth some tragic growth for the golden age speedster. Mid-Nite and Terrific's dynamics are a delight to read as always, and I'm glad Mike got his full circle after this religion plot got set up in his All-Stars issue. Now that I think about it, this arc is also paving the way for Day of Vengeance too!

[JSA : Smoke & Mirrors]

• JSA #63 - Waking The Sandman, Part I : "Insomnia" = Neil Gaiman's Oneiromancer meets Gardner Fox's All-Stars! The weaving of the Sandman lore into the DC Universe is pretty god damn mind blowing. I simply can't believe we're getting this many concrete references. Granted, we did see Daniel in the first issue of the run, but this is still crazy! Jerry Ordway's art is a joy to look at, and the fact that he's still this good makes me so happy. Love the use of Cave Carson and the mighty mole squad, as well as the Fate pantheon putting Nabu in time-out. Development of Fury is super interesting, and finally resolving the Sand loose end is dope (I'm assuming that's him in the Kirby costume?).
• JSA #64 - Waking The Sandman, Part II : "Night Terrors" = Excellent! Return of Brute & Glob, references to the Endless, wholesome Fates, Power Girl/Wildcat banter, and Rex finally reveals himself to his wife! The icing on the cake is Ordway's art, who truly knocks it out of the park with every freaking page. Bringing back the Hawkgirl angle for Sand is a little out there in my opinion, but it works in the context of the story since she acts as his "lightning rod". Johns folding in the events of Sandman is awesome, and it really hurts to think that we might not have this wholesomeness for very long... for Day of Vengeance is waiting at the door! A wonderful obscure reference I caught was Cave Carson's mention of the 90's Resurrection Man series where Immortal Man and Cave team up with Mitch and Vandal to beat the cosmic Warp-Child. Love you for that Johns!
• JSA #65 - Out of Time, Part I : "Dead On Arrival" = Just when I thought I was going to be bummed out for good, Johns throws a curve ball to keep me guessing! Rick jumping in to take his father's place has me assuming that we'll see a redux of the Extant fight from Zero Hour, but how does Per Degaton factor into this? As of the time I'm writing this, Johns is using Degaton as the main villain of his new JSA series; will this build-up be put on hold and only followed up in the present JSA? The Rex reunion sequence was heart-breaking, but I'm glad that his internal turmoil was resolved and he can go out in peace like a champ. Hourman Android coming back was dope as well, and I hope to see more of him before this run ends. 
• JSA #66 - Out of Time, Part II : "Time To Die!" = Hype, Hype, Hype! Definitely did not expect Rex to survive this issue, and him getting a happy ending is a bright light in this endless cloud of grimdark fog leading up to Infinite Crisis. Hourman Android's sacrifice was epic, the recreations of the sequence from Zero Hour was on point, and the fact that Rex will spend his time rebuilding the Android makes everything come full circle. Don Kramer's art was spectacular, possibly even better than his work during Black Reign. The final sequence with Al and Rip Hunter has me super excited for the penultimate arc before Countdown (and I have hope that the Degaton stuff will be resolved too!).

JSA All-Stars + Tis' The Season (JSA #52-55) Review

JSA All-Stars

• JSA All-Stars #1 - "Legacy" = This dude's name is really Legacy? That's dumb as hell, but I'm down for the ride I guess. He looks like an evil King Mob which I think is hilarious. All I was thinking while reading this was how it was going to fit in continuity, either before or after Princes of Darkness. I was worried about the art, but I actually enjoyed it. I think this is the same guy that drew issue 46 of JSA, and he did great!
• JSA All-Stars #2 - "Flying High" = Fantastic issue, much better than the first. I love the Hawks, and this was an excellent adjacent touchstone for the character of Kendra. Her biological daughter brought into the fray yields some crazy considerations and ramifications for her dynamic with Carter. So much context is brought to the rebellious brawler we saw in the beginning of JSA. She was scared to have a family, because she was scared to lose one again! Phil Winslade was a major upgrade from whoever did the first one, and Johns/Goyer keep killing it!
• JSA All-Stars #3 - "Challenging Fate" = The continuity is going to drive me insane! I'm not sure where to put this; before Princes of Darkness, but also before Savage Times? The premonitions of a confrontation with Hawkman are interesting too, and I love to see that Nabu action after the great JSA #48. No way he's going to kill Hawkgirl, I call serious BS, but maybe they'll put an interesting spin (could this be during Princes of Darkness?). Barry Kitson did a great job on art, and I loved the Darwyn Cooke backup chapter.
• JSA All-Stars #4 - "A Star Is Born" = Probably the best issue yet. I love Courtney and Pat, I love their dynamic, and I loved every page of the original Stars & STRIPE series. This is a great epilogue to the run, and dealing with her biological father was fantastically painful to endure. The tragedy is done really well, and I'm so glad that she has finally matured and moved on. I'm assuming this is the first time she uses the name Stargirl, which is awesome. The Mike Mckone art suited the story really well, and I'm excited to see his work on the Titans run.
• JSA All-Stars #5 - "An Hour at a Time" = This was a lot of fun. Rex is one of the best additions to the JSA, and his own personal pathos is unique and interesting to explore. Had no idea who the artist was, but I ended up enjoying his style, kind of a Stephen Sadowski/Leonard Kirk reminiscent style consistent with the other JSA book coming out.
• JSA All-Stars #6 - "Out of the Shadows" = The dream team is back! Sadowski returns for a wonderful Mid-Nite story as Johns/Goyer tackle the classic pregnant woman in labor during a major crisis trope. I'm not sure if the backstory presented in this was from the Matt Wagner series that introduced Pieter, or if Johns and Goyer concocted this yarn for this chapter. Nevertheless, I loved this, and the naming of the child was extremely touching.
• JSA All-Stars #7 - "Fair Enough" = This was probably the worst out of all of them since it was the shortest. I guess Holt had a new grave made at the end, but I'm not sure how that makes things make sense in his head. Maybe because if there is an afterlife, his wife isn't there alone? I'm not sure, but I am sure that the art was the weakest out of all the issues.
• JSA All-Stars #8 - "And Justice For All" = Solid! The art wasn't great in the first half, but Vellutio pulled it off once they faced off against Legacy. I enjoyed the Wizard twist and the character devs for everyone. The best thing about this was the dialogue: you can always tell when writers care a whole bunch about the characters they're interacting with, and Johns + Goyer absolutely love the JSA and their respective pathos.

[JSA : Tis' The Season]

• JSA #52 - "Brand New Day" = The bait is crazy! This was a fantastic issue following the bombastic POD arc. The new status quo is great, and I loved checking in with the whole team. You could give me a JSA book where they sit around and hang out and I would still buy it, that's how much I like these characters. The Cave Carson segment and the Jesse Quick/Hourman stuff were easily my favorites, although Alex getting recruited into Black Adam's task force spices things up. Jakeem/Billy/Courtney love triangle? Very interested in this Crimson Avenger plot, and I'm glad it's getting payed off after so long. Is the man Wildcat supposedly framed the father of the Killer Wasp? Yellow Wasp abducted Ted's son and raised him as his own, however according to Killer Wasp, Jake is dead and Wildcat killed his dad. Now that I reread JSA #37, Charles Durham is a completely different person. But I hope that Killer Wasp plotline gets picked up at some point. 
• JSA #53 - "Blinded" = I'm a little let down because we didn't get any answers to the Killer Wasp plot, but this was still great. Pieter stuff is kino, Power Girl and Wildcat have an incredible dynamic, and that epilogue was so much fun. A nice way to wrap up that Nemesis thread which never fit, ends up working in favor for the lead up to Black Reign. Can Mid-Nite get redemption from fumbling Canary and bag PG instead?
• JSA #54 - "Virtue, Vice, & Pumpkin Pie" = Wholesome in excelsis. This was fantastic. Don Kramer's pencils bring an almost Kevin Maguire-esque feel, while Johns shines brighter than the god damn starheart with his dialogue and character interactions. That sequence with Pieter and Dinah hurt my soul, let my boy catch a break please! The Rick and Jesse tension was fantastic as well, and it was great to see Liberty Belle. Batman and Terrific as the bookends ended up being super fun, and I'm glad that Johns enjoys highlighting this friendship throughout this run.
• JSA #55 - "Be Good For Goodness' Sake" = AHHHHHH! For all the crap Johns has churned out in the 2010's, JSA has my heart forever. This was something spectacular. The twist turning this into a spotlight issue on Ma Hunkel, who would have thought of that! Issue of the goddamn year man. Leonard Kirk knocks it out of the park with his art, and the dynamic between the old stallions of the JSA never fails to be a pleasure to read.

JSA #39-51 Review

Savage times [#39-44 + JLA/JSA Secret Files + Virtue & Vice OGN]

• JSA #39 - "Power Crush" = This was hilarious. D-Bomb is a walking meme and ended up functioning as a wonderful foil to Power Girl. The last page convo with Star and Kendra was great, and the internal monologue of D-Bomb kept it all fun.
• JSA #40 - "...Do No Harm" = I will not lie to you, the last page reveal came out of nowhere. I get that Atom-Smasher and Black Adam have had their bro-bonding moment, but I did not understand where the animosity towards Marvel came from. The issue itself was okay, the Marvel narration was good and I always love more Stargirl, but I was hoping for more Pieter. The Shadower villain was OP as hell, but he folded immediately after being confronted with the power of the storytelling climax. The kids standing up for themselves was great, but I can't help but wonder what the heck would have happened if he stuck to his plan? The JSA would have been useless as mess. Also, I just found out the golden age lore dump was all made for this issue, and the Shadower and Shadower II never appear again. Kind of disappointing.
• JLA/JSA - Secret Files & Origins - "The Day Before" = This special was great, the Batman/Terrific sequence was awesome. I love seeing the post-crisis reconciliations for Golden and Silver age events into one unified New Earth continuity. The conversation between two of the smartest men on the planet is obviously going to be a lot of fun. The hockey game scene was also wonderful, Plastic Man is just such a joy to read, and it's especially fun to see how each writer tackles his dialogue. The Power Girl/Courtney/Diana scene was terrible, and aged very badly. Good stuff, but at the end of the day this is going to be enhanced by the actual Virtue & Vice book.
• JLA/JSA - Virtue & Vice (One-shot/Graphic Novel) = Great graphic novel! Loved the return of Johnny Sorrow and Despero, as well as the crazy pulls like Bedlam, Typhon lord of chaos, and freaking Surtur! The geography of the story was so much fun, and I loved the splinter groups that formed when stuff went down. The scene stealers were Canary, Mid-Nite, and Ollie; the relationship (now love-triangle) between Dinah and Pieter was one of my favorite things during the first 30 issues of JSA. With the return of Ollie, it makes sense that they are an ultimate pair, but shafting my boy Pieter was cruel. He's a total chad, while Ollie is our lovable douche. We hit a couple tropes: Captain Atom nuked, Hourman's time vision, Supes with no sunlight, and Despero wearing the American flag as a cape. Mid-Nite and Batman's fight/moment was really great. I'm excited for the next cross-over!
• JSA #41 - "The Unborn Hour" = Unborn hour was interesting. What got me the most confused was the Hector Hall sequence. In the first JSA arc, the team brought back Doctor Fate using a newborn Hector Hall as the host who aged up in seconds to full maturity (weird right?). He found his wife Lyta, but somehow Mordru had cast her under a sort of sleep spell. The strangest thing however, was the fact that Lyta was actually the one who gave birth to Hector's baby form during the first arc! This and the Gemworld stuff were surprisingly interesting since I normally don't care about Amethyst and the crystal people or whatever. I recognized Flaw from the latest season of YJ, but I am unfamiliar with Cutter. The Black Barax stuff was super cool since they used him on the cover of #34 and during the Sand dream sequence in that issue. His design and giant cube ship is dope, and the set up with Terry Sloan on the cliffhanger was dope. Black Adam and Marvel's banter is great, and this makes me more excited for the upcoming confrontation with Atom-Smasher and the characters shown in last issue's final page.
• JSA #42 - "Paradox Play" = I feel like I've been reading so much Kendra stuff lately, and I'm not complaining! She's been in JSA, Hawkman, and recent Obsidian Age arc of JLA. Her personality and no-nonsense attitude is so much fun that it makes sense as to why everyone wants to use her. Michael Holt has been a goated character, and his dynamic with Terry Sloan was fantastic. The cover did a great job of subverting expectations, and Terry's gambit with Black Barax was so good that it even had me doubting it for a second. I wonder how this interaction will lead to Terry Sloan's fall and the eventual rise of Roulette. Seeing the Freedom Fighters was so awesome (never seen a male firebrand before) and the cliffhanger with Savage + some king of ancient Metamorpho elemental was cool. This ancient Egypt continuity is bonkers, as it seems there are time travelers visiting them every day. As for the Fate stuff, the Lords of Order/Chaos lore was super dope, and the story of Fate's amulet is converging with some of the information we just got in Hawkman #9 (I desperately need to find a way to reconcile the reading order!). I can't help but wonder if Mordru has been manipulating Hector the entire time, as well as who his chaos energy spirit originally possessed in Gemworld.
• JSA #43 - "Yesterday's War" = The more I read JSA & Hawkman, the more stressed I get about how to put together this reading order. I love the ancient DCU lore, the various incarnations of characters in Egypt is my kind of subversion. Johns and Goyer nail these character moments, with Teth-Adam and Marvel easily the standout. Johns is actively pushing the veil with the Hawkgirl stuff in both the Hawk and JSA books, and I'm excited to see how this ends up concluding. The Fate stuff was good, I don't care for the host/familiar because Gemworld is lame as hell, but the fact that Cutter ended up being Child blows for Hector. This man has suffered to the highest degree, and now the machinations of the Chaos Lords are going to royally screw him. Something that I have loved about this mini arc is the inclusion of a bit of poetry on the credits page; it really elevates the book to a more erudite vibe.
• JSA #44 - "The Tears of Ra" = I really liked this one. Echoes of Hal and Sinestro between Marvel and Black Adam (even though this happens a decade before that moment). The sequence in the afterlife was fantastic, and the execution of Ahk-Ton was extremely in-character for Teth. The chrysalis vault stuff is wild; but if you approach this with a "the past is being rewritten = future memories are rewritten" mindset instead of the "whatever happened, happened", then this will make a lot more sense. Terrific and Kendra going back to save Marvel is creating a new future. They did not exist in chrysalis pods preserved until the present until they had that conversation with Nabu. Adam didn't remember to wake them up until he actually sealed them in the new past. Retcons being made in the actual narrative! As for the final reveal, I have completely lost track of what's going on. Here are the facts as we know them: A woman was found in the sea off the coast of Vancouver, she was pregnant. The child was born, she remained comatose, that child was destined to be the next Doctor Fate. This child was the reincarnation of Hector Hall, former Silver Scarab and Sandman. He searched for his missing wife, Lyta Hall, and also found her in Vancouver, discovering that she was the woman who gave birth to him. In order to awaken her, the Helm ordered Hall to go to Gemworld to find answers. He met Flaw and Cutter, the original creator of the Amulet of Fate, who brought him to the corpse of the mortal host of the chaos lord Mordru, Prince Wrynn. Hall took his head, and after leaving Cutter was revealed to be a disguised Chaos lord known as Child. Everything ended up being a ruse, Hector never found Lyta, and the woman was actually Dawn freaking Granger. How is she not dead post-Armageddon 2001? How did Mordru engineer all of this? Did he manipulate the helm to send Hector to Gemworld? Were Flaw and Child in league with Mordru the entire time?

Princes of Darkness [#45-51]

• JSA #45 - "Peacemakers" = That was incredible. The Dove sequence was fantastic, and I love that they are bringing everything full circle, taking elements from Justice Be Done (Mordru + Fate) and Hunt For Extant (Kobra, Bones, Hawk/Dove, Atom-Smasher). The reveal of Mordru as the cause behind Armageddon 2001 and Zero Hour is kind of crazy if you think about it, and the fact that he wrested control from Hector is also great. Hector was a newbie in relation to dealing with Fate's power, so I wonder how Mordru escaped from the prison and took out the spirits of Kent and Inza as well as convincing Nabu to let him take hold? Kobra is a fantastic villain, and the discussion of if heroes should murder is dealt with in an extremely solid and competent way. The Teth-Adam and Atom-Smasher dynamic intensifies while Terrific is actually brought to a stalemate for once. The most surprising things were the Alex Montez subplot and the cameo appearance of Crimson Avenger (yay they didn't forget that subplot!). The Alex Montez stuff is interesting, because Yolanda was killed by Eclipso during some kind of 90's event (the same issue Beth Chapel Midnighter got offed as well). Him getting some kind of Heart of Darkness injection from Bruce Gordon (the OG host of Eclipso) is wild, and I'm sure they'll bring in Eclipso and Obsidian for an event called "Princes of Darkness".
• JSA #46 - Princes of Darkness, Part I : "Into The Valley" = Very interesting opening. The recap with the Legionnaire-phone was cool, but kind of spoiled the Obsidian reveal (but he's on the cover so...). Mordru is supposed to be OP, but I have the same issue with this as the first chapter of the Injustice Be Done arc, where the Society (specifically Sentinel) gets soloed by the big bad beyond repair. At least Mordru and Obsidian are established bad mofos, so it's not as jarring. Sand turning into the classic Sand Creature was cool, and Mordru's mercilessness was great (especially when he muted Jakeem). I was a lot more into the Dawn/Pieter sequence, with the revelations about Hector and Mordru being very fascinating. The retcons regarding Zero Hour are messy to say the least, but the connection between Hawk/Dove + Order/Chaos + Fate/Mordru works extremely well. Mordru is currently possessing the host body now, with Hector trading places and now trapped in the amulet? The concealment spell on Dove is weird because if he knew where she was, they why was he searching for her during Justice Be Done? The Eclipso stuff is cool too, but I'm still wondering if Alex and Bruce had sinister intentions since the letter from last issue showed he didn't want Eclipso to gain power again. This one seems to be Bruce Gordon, but we still don't know what happened to Alex.
• JSA #47 - Princes of Darkness, Part II : "Eclipse" = This was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the balance of the pacing in this chapter: the first half was a conclusion to the brawl with some fantastic action, while the second half functioned well in advancing the plot as well as upping the stakes. Eclipso and Dove crashing through the walls of the brownstone is just so fun to me. Power Girl getting to slap around Mordru was also satisfying. Very formidable entourage for the villains, and I hadn't even realized that Mordru retained the power of the Star-Heart until he used it in the eclipse incantation at the end. If the Shadowlands are equivalent to the Chaos Beyond Hell, then it's very interesting to think that the Wizard's power cannot reach the outer membranes of creation (as I write this I remember that the Multiverse did not exist at this point, so New Earth is probably just sitting at the center of the Orrery). Alex Montez set up was good, and if he's pumped up with heart of darkness juice, will he be the answer to taking down Eclipso? Where are Al and Teth-Adam? I loved the last page reveal of the Fate pantheon, and they even included Kid Eternity + Jared Stevens Fate!
• JSA #48 - Princes of Darkness, Part III : "Enlightenment" = Possibly the best chapter yet? Spotlight on Courtney & Billy + Hector and the Fates! This was so good. Courtney and Billy have a fantastic chemistry, and the anecdotes Goyer and Johns bring in work so well to allow the personalities to grow. The Alan-Thorn history lesson was really good and really sad, but the pathos is so intriguing and engaging. As for the final page, love to see my man Shade, but this is bait at its finest. The Fate sequence was brilliant; I got confused on Mordru's hosts, but after rereading bit it all makes sense. Mordru's first host was Wrynn, but he freed himself and took over Arion's body, using it to fight the JSA in the first arc (that's why he's a red-head!). As of now, Mordru is not possessing Hector's body, but is in the Arion body while Hector is in the Amulet. The interactions with the Fate family were so fantastic, but it makes me sad that they were never really there. The emotional moment shared between Nabu and Hector was fantastic (and I loved the images of Hector's time as Sandman, as well as Morpheus himself in the background of that sequence.)
• JSA #49 - Princes of Darkness, Part IV : "Army of Darkness" = Very much a transition issue setting stuff up for the finale. The opening with Airwave circulating through the heroes was great, and I think it's so cool that the reserves are all made up of former members of the All-Star Squadron! They remembered Nemesis from the annuals! Pieter and Michael are a dynamic duo at this point and I love Terrifitech so much. The set-up of Mordru taking Arion's body connected to Power Girl's retconned origins as the granddaughter of Arion is masterful set-up. Inclusion of Doctor Occult was awesome, and the continued dynamic between Shade and now Stargirl is just great. Wildcat's hard-light armor was dope, and I wonder how this Alex Mont-Eclipso is going to go down.
• JSA #50 - Princes of Darkness, Part V : "The Last Light" = This was fun! Some of the stuff might have been a little deus ex machina for my tastes, but it was still good. Eclipso got wrapped up quick, and Sand got saved once Mordru was inhibited before the final sequence. It was hilarious how in-out the Gemworld stuff was; Karen shattering Flaw and Kendra KOing the Child was gold. The Power Girl revelations are intriguing, if she is from E-2 then how would Arion have known her mother? The Jakeem stuff caught me off guard, he looks like he's applying to be an extra on the Borg cube-ship. He needs his hair asap. The Alan vs Obsidian stuff was really well done, but I wonder how they will evolve this from Darkness Falls. This seemed like a culmination of that (and I really loved that arc), and I'm assuming they go forward with his rehabilitation. Sand holding the Earth together was dope, but there's no way they're taking my boy out like that. Kobra got dealt with super fast, Mordru's plan fell apart pretty quick in these last two issues, and I wonder if he has a couple tricks up his sleeve. Let's see this Chaos vs Order showdown! Justice for Hector!
• JSA #51 - Princes of Darkness, Part VI : "Coda: Justice Eternity" = I am at a loss for words! Geoff Johns did Doomsday Clock 15 years earlier, in the pages of Infinite Crisis and this fantastic event. Although it sags during some of the transition issues, this is easily the best arc JSA has done so far. Issues 45, 48, and 51 were absolutely the standouts; Johns and Goyer have made this team into something that will truly be remembered forever. The final sequence with Hector's mic drop was brilliant, the themes set up will be enhanced and retouched across all of Johns' body of work. Even the epilogue acted as an integral aspect of the team going forward: Al and Teth have crossed the Rubicon, but I can't say I didn't get at least a little satisfaction from Kobra's death.